Corporate Procurement Associate

Reporting to the Executive Vice-President Corporate Procurement - We are searching for a driven, and detailed-oriented Corporate Procurement Associate, who will be assisting the EVP Corporate Procurement with evaluating vendors, goods, and services, negotiating contracts, and ensuring that approved purchases are both high-quality and reasonably priced. Responsibilities will include negotiation with suppliers, processing and issuing purchase orders, tracking orders, and liaising with management and other buyers across the company. The Corporate Procurement Associate should have high strong values, be analytically minded, and possess excellent negotiating skills to secure quality products at the best prices.

**Responsibilities**:

- Develop RFQ’s and proposals, processing purchase orders, and resolving any invoice discrepancies.
- Source, procure, manage inventory of raw materials (ie steel, paint, hardware), as well as other third-party goods and services using the ERP System.
- Maintain sufficient supply of items required for daily operations by monitoring inventory levels.
- Implement various types of Lean Manufacturing and Kanban techniques to manage raw materials and third party finished goods purchases.
- Maintain and expand relationships with a diverse range of supply suppliers and global manufacturers.
- Discover profitable suppliers and initiate business and organization partnerships.
- Negotiate with suppliers to ensure optimal pricing.
- Coordinate with purchasing team, management, sales team, manufacturing team, and engineers as required to clarify specifications and expectations.
- Ensure adequate inventory levels by monitoring, adjusting, and ordering raw materials, third party goods and services based on consumption and forecasts.
- Maintaining purchasing best practices and a thorough understanding of the market.
- Conduct market research to source potential vendors, goods, and services to meet the organization’s needs at a reasonable price.
- Calculating the budgetary impact, as well as measuring and tracking performance in each spending category.
- Assessing the risks of potential contracts and agreements.
- Attending trade shows and conferences to network with potential suppliers and stay current on industry developments.
- Coordination and communication of inbound shipments with shipping companies and suppliers.
- Assist the EVP Corporate Procurement in:

- Development of a company-wide centralized procurement strategy based on production and/or sales projections.
- Implement and maintain procurement policies and procedures.
- Establish a chain of command control process for all requisitions, paperwork and receiving documents.
- Provide purchase level guidelines based on staff experience and area of expertise.
- Develop supply plans and category strategies by identifying opportunity areas such as product standardization and supplier consolidation to reduce costs while improving quality and service levels.
- Develop and implement innovative procurement strategies to reduce costs, reduce risk, and generate savings while resolving supply conflicts and identifying supply operations risks.
- Develop and implement procurement training initiatives for the organization.
- Develop and disseminate procurement business plans for the organization.
- Develop effective negotiation strategies and securing lucrative deals

**Job Qualifications**
- Minimum of 5 years working in a manufacturing setting with exposure to procurement and inventory management.
- Purchasing experience and knowledge with construction type materials such as coil steel and structural steel is strongly preferred.
- Strong analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills demonstrating functional expertise in problem solving.
- Excellent relationship and personal skills.
- Ability to take initiative and work independently.
- Collaborative with the ability to introduce and influence change with employees and management.
- Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, logistics, commerce, economics, business administration or a related field.
- Supply Chain Certification or working towards a certification an asset.
- Demonstrated leadership and the proven ability to develop and maintain productive vendor relationships within the global marketplace.
- Project management skills are an asset.
- Intermediate to Advanced MS Excel
- Experience and Knowledge of JD Edwards is preferred